Families4Families Club provides food for those in need

Samantha Topf, staff writer|November 10, 2020

Wootton+Families4Families+Club+packages+food+and+supplies+at+their+first+drop+off+on+Oct.+24.

Elena Filbert

Wootton Families4Families Club packages food and supplies at their first drop off on Oct. 24.

Families4Families is a new club this school year. The two club presidents are freshman Elena Filbert and freshman Annabel Bunten. The club is helped by the sponsor, teacher Sharon Tzioni. According to the two presidents, Wootton is the first public school in the DMV to bring Families4Families to their school.

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Families4Families is a non-profit organization founded in March. The Marshall family founded this organization to help provide food to families in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. The organization helps to provide groceries to families impacted by the pandemic. Families4Families has several student clubs in the DMV.

A few of the schools that have a Families4Families student club include Holy Child and Holton-Arms. The club meets once a month for food drives at school. The food drives give everyone an opportunity to drop off needed food, which will later be delivered. The Families4Families website has a list of food that is needed.

Each month a Signup Genius is sent out where people can sign up for different slots. Each of the slots people can sign up for list all the food that is needed and includes fruits and vegetables (bananas, apples, potatoes and green beans), dairy (milk, butter and eggs), grains (sliced sandwich bread, packages of spaghetti/pasta, bag of rice and Honey Nut Cheerios) and more. Families4Families also collect items like diapers, masks, paper towels, and hygiene products. Donations include a full bag, a half bag or donating a singular grocery item. “We have volunteers buy groceries for families in need and we organize the food and deliver it,” Bunten said.

The club meets every Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.. So far all the meetings have been held in Zooms. During the meeting the club discusses details about upcoming food drives. The club also has an active Instagram account where updates and announcements are shown.

The first food drive was held Oct. 24 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.. The food drive was a success and fed 10 families, which was around 40 people according to the club’s presidents. The club dropped off the food after the drive and was able to help people who needed it. All the volunteers had masks on and were able to maintain distance to stay safe. According to the presidents, the food drive had an “amazing turnout” with the help from volunteers and donations. Over 12 bags were filled and donated.